


Missing In Action

by vktrnkfrv



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Character Death Fix, Curtis deserves better, Depressed Keith (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Fantastic Racism, Fix-It, Future Fic, Galra Keith (Voltron), How Do I Tag, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) Friendship, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) Deserves Better, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith/Shiro (Voltron) Angst, Major Character Injury, Multi, Not Beta Read, One-Sided Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Protective Acxa (Voltron), Protective Hunk (Voltron), Protective Kolivan (Voltron), Protective Krolia (Voltron), Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Pidge | Katie Holt, Quintessence (Voltron), Quintessence-Sensitive Keith (Voltron), Racism, Sad, Sad Keith (Voltron), Season/Series 08, Serious Injuries, Sharing a Bed, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Soz, Tags May Change, To begin with, Torture, and all because of one paragraph, and i go and destroy his life, i really didn't mean for it to go this far, im seriously sorry, like he literally did nothing, lol, please read the tags, shiro deserves better, this is a lot darker than i wanted it to be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29423415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vktrnkfrv/pseuds/vktrnkfrv
Summary: Since the war has ended, Keith and Shiro have slowly drifted away. It isn’t until Keith is MIA and presumed dead, that Shiro notices.
Relationships: Acxa & Keith (Voltron), Allura/Lance (Voltron), Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Keith & Krolia (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith & The Blade of Marmora, Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt & Keith
Comments: 19
Kudos: 112





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Please be gentle. This is my first Voltron fanfic. Also, side note, I haven't properly seen season eight. I've seen snippets of it, but not the whole thing. This fic is based a few years after it. So basically everything that happens in season eight has happened in this fic.

**_Prologue_ **

* * *

August, 2220

_Shiro,_

_You wouldn’t believe what it is like out here! I’ve visited so many different planets and helped so many different people. I still can’t believe how big the Galra Empire was. I have to be honest, I’ll probably die before I visit and help all the planets that were once apart of the Empire. Enough about me, what about you?! I heard from Acxa that the_ Atlas _is set to go on a six month voyage to discover more of the universe! I bet you’re pumped, and I also bet that the pressure is high! I’ve got to go now! But I expect you to message me back about your voyage!_

_Keith_

December, 2220

_Keith,_

_Sorry for the late reply! It’s been crazy aboard the_ Atlas. _We’ve discovered so much more life out there! In the_ Atlas _we’ve only scrapped the top of what there is in the universe. We could worm hole everywhere, but its so much better and easier just to cruse among the stars. We’re having a Christmas dinner on the Altas. Hunk is coming aboard to cook up a Christmas feast! He’s even managed to convince Lance to come as well. Pidge would have loved to come, but she’s tied up with experiments back on Earth. If I had known sooner, I would defiantly invited you, it was just so last minute, that there wasn’t time. I would wish you happy holidays, but I don’t think Galra have the holiday season like we do._

_Shiro_

January, 2221

_Shiro,_

_No worries, I understand. Not that I would be able to make it anyway. You’re lucky I caught your message, we’ve just been tidying things up with a war lord. I’m not sure what I had thought would happen to the Galra Empire once we had defeated Honerva, maybe the Galra would unite? Be peaceful and let go of the old ways? There were some, whom were more than happy to join the coalition and have the Blades deal with everything. But I suppose there were, and still are Galra that will remain loyal to Zarkon. But one war lord down, another few million people saved. Do you think you’ll reach the edge of the universe before your six months is up? I hope you do, I would love to see it. If you do manage to reach the edge, can you take a picture for me?_

_Keith_

May 2221

_Keith,_

_Hey, sorry it’s been a while. I’ve just had to finish a mountain of paperwork that comes with a safe return to Earth. It’s absolutely crazy, we’ve just touched down on Earth, only to find we’re jetting off to another system, were some rouge Galra and causing havoc. As much as I love helping people and making the universe a better place, my crew is completely gone. The six month voyage really look a lot out of them. Makes me wonder if I’ll ever be able to settle down. To answer you, no we didn’t make it to the edge of the universe, there is just so much more to see. From where we ended up turning around from, there seemed to be billion more stars. I have a feeling the universe is bigger than we could ever imagine. I hear everyone wants a little get-together. It’s almost reaching a year since we defeated Honerva, and we lost Allura, but maybe everything will be better if we spend it together? All of us have decided to meet at New Altea. Please tell me you will be able to make it. It will be nice to see you in person._

_Shiro_

_-_

Keith’s hand trembled as he held the invite in his hand. It was an invite to Shiro’s wedding. Keith had no idea that Shiro was even seeing someone, let alone engaged to someone. It hurt Keith in ways he couldn’t even start to comprehend. First, it was the feeling that Shiro didn’t trust him enough, or they weren’t close enough for Shiro he had found somebody. It was at that thought alone, that made Keith want to screw up in the invite and throw it in the bin. If Shiro didn’t want to tell Keith about his relationship, then why was he invited. Probably out of formalities than anything.

Then came the pain in his heart. If you had asked Keith, he couldn’t tell you when he fell in love with Shiro. It could have been at the Garrisons, or when he found Shiro after he disappeared, or even when they had spent the last few years fighting an intergalactic war. He loved Shiro deeply. Deeply enough that it scared Keith not being involved in his life. He was more than happy to take whatever Shiro could give, and if that meant to be his supportive best-friend, Keith would grasp that in his hands and never let it go.

The love Keith had felt for Shiro was enough, that Keith just wanted Shiro to be happy, and if it meant Shiro and himself weren’t in a romantic relationship, then so be it. After everything the universe had put Shiro through, at the very least, he deserved to be happy, and Keith was not going to stand in the way of it. His only hope was this Curtis guy, was going to treat Shiro with all the love and respect he deserved.

-

Keith had shown up for the wedding a few days in advance. The invitation had included a plus-one for Keith, so he chose Acxa. The half galra was more than happy to come with Keith. When he arrived on Earth, the rushed to find the paladins. Keith was more than excited to see his old team. Aside from Shiro, the only person who had stayed in constant contact with Keith was Pidge. Lance and Hunk messaged every so often, and Coran was even more scarce. But Keith dared to say he had received more messages from Coran in this past year than Shiro.

It was came as a shock to Keith that all of the old team were heavily involved in the wedding. Pidge had been in-charge of all the tech elements of the wedding, Coran was in-charge of all the decorating, Hunk was helping plan all of the catering. But the biggest kick-in-the-gut was Shiro’s groomsmen. He had only two, but they were both filled up with Hunk and Lance, Lance being his best-man. Keith felt his world crumble around him.

During the ceremony, Keith sat as stiff as a board, with Acxa on one side, and Kroila and Kolivan on the other. Partway through, Keith could feel his mother’s eyes on him, like she was checking to see if he was alright. Keith was. Just barely. Throughout the whole ceremony, Keith was sitting there, picking at the treads on the suit he brought especially for this event.

Much later in the evening, Keith was now at the reception. Whom ever was in charge of the seating, Keith was thanking them. He was seated at a table with Kroila, Kolivan, Acxa and the whole Holt family. Between Matt and Pidge, they seemed to make the day less painless. At some stage in the night, Keith glared at Lance as he sat on Shiro’s right side. It was stupid, and Keith knew it, but he had always been on Shiro’s right, not a table away.

Matt had managed to persuade Keith to take advantage of the open bar. Because of his half-Galra status, it took Keith a few more drinks than the average human to get drunk. During the dinner, Keith was more than content to sip on his beer. Although, Keith was only six drinks in and was feeling fine, were as Matt was five drinks in and started to look at little tipsy.

Somehow, by the end of the night, Pidge, Keith and Matt are all drunk on the dance floor. In he corner of his eye, Keith can see someone snap a picture, he turned to look and it was Lance. If Keith had been in his right mind, he would have let both the picture and Lance go. But Keith did not and turned to tackle Lance to the ground.

“Delete it! Delete it!” Keith had called out to Lance.

Lance was wriggling on the floor like a worm, laughing his head off. “No, no. I’m defiantly not! This picture is too good! I’m gonna put up on the fridge when I get home!”

“Do that, and I’ll throw it in the bin!” Keith had growled, finally getting off Lance.

-

Despite seeing the man he loved get married, Keith ended up have the time of this life at the reception. But all too soon, Keith had to return to space and continue his Blade work. Keith was hoping to spend a few more days on Earth—to spend with the other Paladins while they were all on the same planet. Sadly, and very much unfortunately, Keith had to leave the morning after the wedding.

A planet, which was previously under the occupation of the Galra, were now at war with each other. One clan wanted to get rid of all the Galra, the other, wanted to accept the Galra’s offer of help to establish a better relationship and economic support. After talking to the newly established Galran council, they were open to negotiations, but only if the Black Paladin was present.

So now, Keith was flying off into deep space, while nursing a hungover, to go and negotiate peace. There wasn’t much Keith could do about the nausea, but his headache was gone, he had taken enough painkillers to put down an elephant. It seemed while the Galra seemed to be an evolved race, they still hadn’t developed anything to combat nausea.

August 2224

_Shiro,_

_I know you’re away on your honeymoon, but I never got the chance to personally congratulate you on your marriage. I know this war was hard on everyone, but somehow, you seem to deserve a happy ending the most. Although, I’m a little hurt that I wasn’t even aware that you were engaged until I received the invite a little while ago._

‘Has he forgotten me?’ Keith stopped the message and wondered to himself. ‘Maybe it was Lance or Hunk who reminded him to invite me?’

_Oh well, I guess you were busy. I mean we all are these days. I heard from Pidge that you were going off again after your honeymoon. You can never catch a break, can you? But if you wanted to know why the bill at the bar is so high, you can completely blame Matt for that. He seemed to be topping up my drink the whole night. Big regrets now. I had originally planned to say on Earth for a while to relax and see everyone, but I supply suppose there is no such thing as relaxation for a Blade. Cause now I’m on my to a planet (truthfully I don’t know the name of, but I probably should figure it out soon) to go and have peace negotiations. I hope to hear from you soon._

_Keith_

November 2224

_Keith,_

_Sorry for the late reply again! It’s just been crazy! Like you said I can’t seem to catch a break! Also! Happy belated birthday! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there when you opened your present! But I hope you liked it regardless. Fun fact, the idea was actually Lance’s. We all just chipped in for the parts, labour was free, but then Hunk and Pidge were the ones that restored it. Maybe when you come back to Earth you can bring you hover bike with you and we could go riding like were used to back in the day!_

_Shiro_

November 2224

_Shiro_

_You don’t have to apologise for not being there when I opened the present. It’s the thought that counts. I don’t know if I can make it to Earth anytime soon. There is just so much that needs to be done with the Blades, I’m not sure if I’m able to escape from it. But I’ll definitely bring my over bike to the next anniversary, if you do._

_Keith_

July 2225

_Shiro_

_I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I haven’t heard from you in a few months. I know you normally take a long time to reply, but I just wanted to make double check._

_Keith_

September 2225

_Shiro_

_Sorry to bother you before, just caught up with Pidge and she said you have mountains of paperwork to do. But side note, I’ve managed to grab a week off in a few months time, and I’m thinking about heading over to Earth._

_Keith_

February 2226

_Shiro_

_I managed to come to Earth, bring my hover bike and all, but I still couldn’t catch up with you. Are you alright? Please message me soon._

_Keith_

April 2226

_Shiro_

_Sorry for both the constant messages, and my worry before. Lance had messaged me last night and we talked for a bit and he said that you were swamped again with paper work. If you want, I could come and help you for a while—although I don’t actually know how much help I will be._

_Keith_

October 2228

_Shiro_

_I know I keep on messaging you, and then I keep on finding out you’re busy, but this will probably be my last message for a long time. I heading out on a mission, I don’t know how long it’s going to be, and I’m not sure if I will have the chance to see you again. But I wanted to say thank you. You’ve always seen the best in me, and believed in me when no one else did. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you._

_Keith_


	2. Chapter One: MIA

**Chapter One: MIA**

* * *

Shiro’s eyes swept over his desk. There were multiple things on there, many things Shiro thought he could never have. In the first photo frame was a picture of himself and all the Paladins after they had freed Earth from the Galra. The Paladins still looked a little worse-for-wear, as they were still recovering from when their lions fell from space and crashed onto the Earth. Shiro can still remember the horror of that day. Seeing the explosion and then the lions being sent all around the Earth like shooting stars. Shiro could still feel when the Earth shook as the Black Lion crashed. In the other photo was a more happier photo, it was himself and Curtis on their wedding day, as it was, that very photo was seven years ago now. Shiro thought that he would never be able to find someone to love him, but Curtis proved that wrong, and now, underneath the mountains of coalition, Atlas and garrison paperwork, sat a hefty brown folder, filled with adoption papers. Shiro never thought in his wildest dreams that he would even live long enough to have a family, let alone to see it develop and grow.

Shiro was pulled of from his thoughts, when someone came barging into his office.

“Shiro—” Pidge exclaimed, before she placed her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths. “It’s—it’s—” Pidge’s voice trailed off again as she tried to take deep breaths and both clam and slow down her breathing.

“Do you need a seat?” Shiro questioned with concern evident in his voice.

“No time,” Pidge managed out. “You’ve just got to come!” Pidge ran around the corner of Shiro’s desk and pulled him up. “They’ve already started to prep the Atlas. It’s due to take off in ten minutes!”

“Whoa, whoa,” Shiro stopped in the middle of the hall. “Where are we going? Who authorised the Atlas for take off? We’re not meant to be leaving for another few months.”

“We can’t stop. We need to go.” Pidge explained and started to pulled Shiro along.

If Shiro wasn’t so concerned over Pidge, and almost angry over the sudden launch of the Atlas, Shiro would have been impressed by Pidge’s strength.

“It’s Keith.” Pidge told Shiro as she still pulled him along. “He’s been declared MIA, presumed dead.”

Shiro stopped in his tracks. Pidge jolted backwards as she felt Shiro stop suddenly. A frown settled down on Shiro’s face. As far as he was concerned, Keith was just doing humanitarian work, helping out planets after the Galra Empire started to fade way, relief work. He wasn’t supposed to be fighting, anyone, or anything.

“Come on!” Pidge said through the grit of her teeth as she continued to pull Shiro along. “We’ve got to go. The Atlas is going to leave, with or without us.”

Shiro’s mind was in a blur as Pidge continued to drag him down to the launch pad. Once they got there, Shiro has never seen the Atlas so intimidating. The huge, white ship looms over the top of Shiro. But the moment Shiro saw his crew running around prepping the ship for take-off, the barrier Shiro puts up to hide his emotions, were slammed all the way up. For the very least, he has to be strong for his crew. He had no doubts that most of his crew were stressed out or scared by the sudden take-off, he didn’t need to make it worst by showing his emotion.

Within moments, Shiro was on the bridge. In the corner of the bridge was, Lance, Hunk and Romelle. All looking worried, Lance seemed to be providing support for Romelle as she cried into his shoulder. Shiro recalls a conversation he had with Keith long ago, where he told Shiro that he thought of Romelle as his younger sister.

“Where are we heading Coran?” Shiro asked, as he walked up to his screens.

“New Altea, we’ve got to rendezvous with the Blades.” Coran replied without taking his eyes off the screen.

Shiro nodded in reply and watched the stats of the Atlas as it was steadily lifting off. In the back of his mind he could feel the Atlas probing his mind in concern. There was little to no doubt that she could feel the turmoil in Shiro’s mind.

“Hunk and I are leading down to the engineering deck.” Pidge said as she dragged Hunk out of the bridge.

“I might join them,” Romelle quickly added on and disappeared.

“Yeah… I might too.” And Lance bolted away.

Shiro was left alone in the bridge, with his crew around him. They all were casting him side glances of concern. They all knew. Not that it was her fault, but Veronica casted another concerned look towards Shiro.

“The bridge is yours Coran.” Shiro suddenly snapped. “I’ll be in my quarters.” Shiro stormed off the bridge and missed the confused looks from the crew. 

It wasn’t fair. Shiro didn’t deserve the concern of the crew, of his friends. He hadn’t talk to Keith in… He couldn’t remember. Shiro collapsed into his chair at his desk. The desk he had aboard the Atlas, was tidier then the one back in his office in the Garrison. His desk was as plain as the day he first sat down in the chair. Shiro frowned and tried to think what was the last thing he had even said to Keith was.

Shiro turned to look at the computer on his desk, he fired up the computer and waited while it turned on. It was only a quick few seconds as he clicked onto the messaging app. The first message to pop up was one from Curtis.

-

June 2231—17:47hrs

_Shiro_

_I just heard that the Atlas was flying off again. Isn’t a little too soon? You weren’t supposed to go off again until September? Has something happened? Just let me know that you’re alright._

_Curtis x_

_-_

June 2231—17:59hrs

_Curtis_

_We aren’t supposed to be flying off until September, but something has come up. We’re on route to New Altea, we’re meeting up with the Blades._

Shiro paused midway through the message. Does he tell Curtis what has happened to Keith? He can trust Curtis, after all, he is his husband.

_Keith is MIA and they are presuming he’s dead._

_Shiro x_

_-_

June 2231—18:05hrs

_Okay, stay safe and keep me posted._

_Curtis x_

_-_

Shiro collapsed back into his chair. Surely if Keith was undergoing a dangerous mission, he would have told somebody. (Shiro hoped the somebody was him.) But the more Shiro thought about Keith, the more he struggled to remember the last he spoke to him, or the last he messaged him. The last memory of Keith that his mind could dig up was at his wedding. The image that almost assaulted Shiro was Keith, dressed up in black slacks, a white button down (which had the first few unbuttoned), brown dress shoes and a deep maroon blazer over the top. His hair had been groomed back, and his long hair had been tucked behind his ears. If Shiro had to describe Keith in one word, it would have been: beautiful. But then Shiro remembered the heartbreakingly sad pout on Keith’s face, the moment Keith had realised Shiro was looking at him, his face changed, to a bright, warm smile that made Shiro’s insides feel all tingly.

From that point, any memory of Keith was blank. Another arrow wedged into Shiro’s heart as he realised it was the last time he had seen Keith, and he hadn’t spoken to him the whole night. Shiro, however, remembered the message he read from Keith after he came back from his honeymoon, Keith had revealed how hurt Keith was, as he had been left out of all the wedding plans and he wasn’t even aware he was dating Curtis, let alone getting married to him. This caused Shiro to sink further into his chair, he had thought he was doing Keith a favour, himself a favour, but all he did was hurt Keith and push him away.

Shiro watched the stars fly past his window, he started to wonder if Keith was all alone, or was his crew with him. Shiro almost smacked himself for being so stupid, if Keith was still anything like he was during the war, he would offered himself on a sliver platter if that meant his team could escape. Shiro then wondered if Keith said anything about his mission in passing through his messages. He then was quick to search for Keith’s name in his contacts, and then it was revealed he had hundreds of missed messages from Keith. Shiro’s heart dropped to his stomach. The last message Keith had sent to him dated back three years ago.

-

October 2228

_Shiro_

_I know I keep on messaging you, and then I keep on finding out you’re busy, but this will probably be my last message for a long time. I heading out on a mission, I don’t know how long it’s going to be, and I’m not sure if I will have the chance to see you again. But I wanted to say thank you. You’ve always seen the best in me, and believed in me when no one else did. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you._

_Keith_

-

If Shiro didn’t feel guilty before, he definitely felt guilty now. Shiro carried on scrolling through messages, they were constant, every few weeks there was a new message, Keith was either just updating Shiro on where he was in the universe, trying to organise trips with Shiro and just asking Shiro if everything in his life was alright. Keith was there, giving his friendship out, leaving the cage to his heart wide open, but Shiro did nothing. Out of the hundreds of messages, Shiro had only replied to one. Then he stopped.

Shiro never wanted to admit it, but it was like he forgot about Keith. All the other Paladins, Shiro saw on the regular, Pidge obviously worked at the Garrison and naturally, close to Shiro, she was constantly making breakthroughs with new technology. Hunk was make feats with combing both peace negotiations and his culinary skills together. Although Lance was on New Altea more often than not, he was quite a regular on the Atlas, trying to help the universe recover from the Galra. Shiro wanted to desperately blame the Blades for taking Keith away, making him their poster boy. For making Keith make a positive impact on the new Galra Empire.

But Shiro had no one to blame but himself, Keith obviously wanted to be there for Shiro, and he was offering it, but it was like Shiro turned his nose up at it. The guilt ran deep in Shiro and started to settle into his bones. Without warning, Shiro fell forwards on his desk, resting his head in his arms. The metal of his Altean arm was uncomfortable on Shiro’s forehead, but at this point, Shiro believed he deserved all the pain that the universe could give him. Muffled sobs echoed quietly in Shiro’s office.

For a brief moment, Shiro was able to recollect himself, that was until he saw the message on his screen. With two hands, Shiro gripped his computer screen and started to read the message Keith had sent four years ago. Shiro pressed his lips tight as his eyes dashed across the screen reading the message. His teeth chattered behind his closed mouth, and Shiro desperately suppressed his sobs. He wasn’t allowed to cry, he wasn’t allowed to mourn the loss of his friendship. A friendship he had for over six years. A friendship he didn’t know he needed until it was gone.

“Admiral,” Coran’s voiced echoed through the comms. “We’re on the final approach to Altea.”

“I’ll be up in a moment.” Shiro replied. He got up from his desk, and walked out the door. He didn’t have the heart to turn off his computer screen. There was a part deep down in Shiro, telling him it wasn’t too late. All he had to do is find Keith and everything will be fine again. That Keith would accept his friendship and move on like the last eleven years didn’t happen. But based on the last message Shiro had read, logically, he knew it wasn’t the case. 

-

March 2227

_Shiro_

_Hi, it’s Keith again. I just wanted to know is there anything that I did wrong? You’ve been AWOL for the past three years. Everyone has been saying you’ve been busy, and I honestly believe them, but not once have you replied to my messages. It just makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong. If I have, can you tell me? Just so I can make it right again. It’s been hard being so far from everyone, but even more harder being away from you._

_Keith_

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter! I got this up sooner than I was expecting. Currently school is still out and I won't go back for another two weeks. But as soon as school starts again, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. I hope this chapter makes sense, it was a little all over the place for me, I might go back and edit it once I've finished the fic. Thank you for the comments that were left on the prologue. Seeing that people like this makes it a lot more easier for me to update. 
> 
> I know that it was very unlikely for everyone but Keith to be on Earth, but I didn't really think of it until I finished writing the chapter. And I know it's unlikely that they would launch the Atlas like that, but once again, I didn't really think of that until I finished writing the chapter. I think I just wanted Shiro to have his own space where he could think, and where he didn't have to pilot. 
> 
> The chapters might vary in length. There are just certain points I want to get across in certain chapters. But I suppose it makes it easier to read????


	3. Chapter Two: The Blades

**Chapter Two: The Blades**

* * *

The moment the Atlas had touched down on New Altea. Shiro and the others were ready to move. They left the remaining crew to do all the post-landing checks. Finding out information about Keith was more important. At the end of the ramp, Kolivan and Krolia were both waiting for the small team. Both of the Blade leaders had grim looks on their face, it was obvious the search for Keith wasn’t going well.

Off in the distance another, smaller ship landed. The moment it landed, Acxa, Zethrid and Ezor piled out and was quick to make their way over to Kolivan and Krolia.

“Still nothing?” Krolia asked.

“Nothing,” Acxa replied. Sadness flashed quickly across Krolia’s face, but it was quick to disappear.

“I see,” Krolia’s averted her eyes and seemed like she became more interested in her feet.

The Earthlings were able to look at both Krolia and Kolivan, to see how worn and tried they were. The Blade leaders were met with dead end, after dead end with every lead they had for Keith. There seemed like there was nothing that could bring him back.

“Come,” Kolivan said as he turned on his heel and walked away. “This conversation is perhaps best kept quiet.”

-

The large group met on the Blade’s ship. Since after the Voltron had disappeared when fighting Lotor, the Blades hadn’t really had a base of operations, they had more of a ‘mothership’, the ship in size could rival the Atlas. Like most Galran cruisers, it had purple accents, which was a stark difference from the blue aboard Altean ships or the orange on aboard Earth ships. Post-war it had taken a while to get used to the purple aboard the Galra ships. It had taken Shiro the longest out all of the Paladins to get used to the Galra ships. Being kept in the Gladiator Pits, made Shiro uneasy on Galra ships, and though he knew and realised not all Galra were bad, he still took the longest to get used to them. The Galra post-war, had been the most involved in the coalition. As both, Keith, Kolivan and Krolia had mentioned multiple times, they wanted to carve a new era for the Galra. An era of peace and prosperity for all Galra, and a chance to undo what had been done by Zarkon, Lotor, Honerva and the war lords still wreaking havoc in the universe.

The room they were in looked more like a war room, then anything else. The council on New Daibazaal, had decided it was best not to build a new fleet, but just modify the previous fleet. All of the leaders in the coalition had asked the Galra to reconsider, it was now harder to determine a ‘good’ Galra cruiser, to a ‘bad’ Galra cruiser. But with more planets and systems pulling out of the empire and declaring their own independence, the resources of the Galra Empire had dropped, the funds the Galra used to have, were now being used to help the newly independent planets and systems get back up on their feet.

“Keith’s last known location was on this planet here,” Krolia started. She pulled up a planet, a very Earth looking planet. “Corellia,”

“There isn’t much on the planet, mainly just animals and plants,” Kolivan explained as he walked up to the planet and crossed his arms. “We received a communication from Keith here.”

Kolivan pressed a button and Keith’s last transmission came through. _“I’m not picking up any present, nor quintessence from this planet—nothing out of the ordinary. I’m going to circle the system to see if I can pick up any quintessence source.”_

“Quintessence?” Lance asked with a frown. “Why is Keith searching for quintessence?”

“Classified,” Krolia quickly snapped, ending the conversation.

“We then received a distress signal from Keith’s fighter, on this planet, almost a system away. Naturally, we sent Acxa, Zethrid and Ezor to investigate.” Kolivan explained and gestured to the trio standing a little bit way from the four humans and two Alteans. “There searches returned with nothing.”

“What about Kosmo?” Hunk quickly asked.

“We found him unconscious by the crash sight. He’s been recovering in my quarters since.” Krolia told the group.

Shiro had honestly tuned out most of the later part of the conversation. There wasn’t any information Shiro found important. The worry Shiro felt increased tenfold. Keith had crashed landed his fighter, and was no where to be seen, what was even more alarming for Shiro, was Kosmo, the loyal space wolf very rarely left Keith’s side. Then there was his mission, he had been on this mission for three years, and appeared to not be making any progress what so ever. If Keith was searching for some sort of quintessence, all Shiro could think it as was bad news. Keith had no need for the quintessence, so why was he searching for traces of it. 

The Paladins kept on pressing the Blade leaders for information on Keith’s mission, but they were tight lipped, refused to give out any more information. Eventually the discussion faded out and the Paladins were invited to join the few Blade members on the ship for dinner. They all agreed and Hunk was more than happy to lend a hand in the kitchen for the night.

It seemed while they were all sitting having dinner, the topic of Keith was off the table. No one wanted to talk about it. So the regular banter between Hunk, Pidge and Lance was on full display, Zethrid and Ezor were both more than happy to join in. It scared Shiro how normal this felt, it wasn’t perfect, but it felt normal. Shiro wasn’t even aware he missed this until he sat down with everyone. When he was aboard the Atlas, more often than not he spent meal times in his quarters, either finishing off a report, or messaging/video calling Curtis. Shiro knew for this moment to be perfect, the only thing he was missing was Keith.

Zethrid, it seemed, was more than happy to share some of the missions herself, Acxa, Ezor and Keith had shared over the past few years. Some where worrisome for Shiro, Keith seemed to have his hands filled with warlords, but there seemed to be some good memories spread through it all. There was one where Krolia and Kolivan were both leading peace talks, while Keith was sitting down, surrounded by children as he told them stories of the adventures of Voltron. Ezor was more than happy to dive deep into the pictures on her phone to retrieve a picture.

The phone got passed around the group, everyone faces, softened instantly at the sight. Finally, what seemed like a lifetime, the phone was finally passed to Shiro. Shiro could feel his face soften at the picture. It was Keith, and sitting around him in a circle was a small group of children, with one sitting in his lap. Shiro felt his breath being knocked out of him as he took in Keith. He had definitely changed, Shiro could see more of Keith’s Galran characteristics come out. His hair was leaning towards more of a purple, Shiro could see small fangs in Keith’s mouth, as Keith’s head was thrown back, and caught mid-laughter. Keith’s hair was longer, his hair was now braided and it fell softly over his shoulder, with little fly-aways framing his face. _~~Shiro could feel himself falling in love with Keith all over again~~._ After a minute, and probably a little bit too long, Shiro finally handed the phone back to Ezor.

The Paladins retired to their quarters abroad the Altas. The Blade had offered them space on their ship, but they didn’t want to impose. Both Hunk and Lance had passed out in their quarters the moment their heads touched their pillows. Pidge was had about three black coffees and working through a video game she needed to finish. While Shiro was left in his bed, this thoughts ran wild. There was nothing to distract him, in the very back of his mind, Shiro could feel the Atlas humming away. Shiro had welcomed the Atlas’ presence in his mind, for Shiro, it had replaced the constant hum of the Black Lion. Eventually, Shiro had drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

_“Shiro, please, you’re my brother, I love you.” Keith panted as he tried with to block Shiro’s arm._

_Shiro couldn’t do anything, I was like someone had pushed him out of the pilots chair, and into the backseat, he had no control. The fear he saw in Keith’s eyes stung him, and his confession made Shiro falter and lose his grip. Keith managed to grab the upper hand and push Shiro a little bit more away._

_“Just let go, Keith. You don’t have to fight anymore.” Shiro could feel himself lifting his arm up, and he swung down, slicing Keith in half as he did it._

Shiro bolted up, and took in ragged breaths. He hadn’t had a nightmare like that in a long time. After he had been taken from the Black Lion, and placed into the clones body. His memories were fuzzy. A weird mixture of being in the astral plane, and reality. He saw how the his clone caused havoc, while he was trapped in the consciousness of the Black Lion. It felt as like he was watching a show of his life. Shiro couldn’t fathom how willing they all trusted him after that. What if he turned on them again? He knew Keith cut off his arm, good and proper, he had the proof of that. And how Allura managed to extract his soul from the Black Lion. From then, he couldn’t trust himself around anyone anymore, especially the people he loved. If he had betrayed them once, he could easily do it again.

-

“Perhaps it would be easier if you just tell us why Keith was searching for quintessence,” Pidge pleaded. “We could figure out from there who would want to take him.”

“No, he made us swear not to tell anyone.” Krolia told them firmly.

It seemed like everyone was back to square one. Discussions of who had taken Keith had opened up, which lead to the discussion of Keith mysterious mission he had personally taken.

“If his hunch had been proven wrong, he didn’t want to get anyone’s hope up.” Very obviously, Krolia’s eyes scanned the group and lingered on Lance.

“Look Pidge is right.” Shiro sighed, finally stepping into the conversation. “We need all the information about Keith and what he was doing with quintessence, so we know who we are going to be up against.”

Krolia sighed and turned to look at Kolivan, who nodded in return.

“Fine,” Krolia sighed. “Keith didn’t really keep it a secret, nor did he tell everyone. He was sensitive to quintessence. Not as attuned to it as a Altean is, but he could sense it.”

Everyone in the small group looked unsure. “I know we’ve been told a lot since we first took off from space, but Keith being sensitive to quintessence is ya know… just a little bit too much?” Lance shrugged.

“You can believe it or not, but it is the truth.” Krolia replied sternly, not backing down at all.

“I agree with Krolia.” Coran spoke up. “While Keith might have not been as attuned as Allura, he could sense it, after all he was able to locate both the Blue and Red Lions.”

“Ok, Keith can sense quintessence,” Pidge nodded. “How does that relate back to Keith’s mission?”  


“Everyone who uses quintessence often, and can harness it, they leave something like a stamp, or a signature. People, like Keith, who have high sensitively to can feel a persons signature. Providing they have been around the person long enough.” Krolia explained.

“Oh right then,” Hunk spoke up nodding his head. “So it’s kinda like the whole force thing they had going on in Star Wars. Right? Got it.”

“Uhhh, I think it’s a little more complex than that Hunk.” Pidge replied. 

“If Keith sensed quintessence, who’s was it? Honvera’s?” Shiro wondered aloud.

“Keith told us and believed it was Voltron.”

“Voltron?”

“Yes,” Krolia confirmed. “But there is more. I wasn’t just Voltron he sensed, it was Allura.”

Everyone staggered back and went wide eyed. Their mouths all dropped opened, and hopeful looks sprung across their faces.

Lance clenched his fists and frowned. Tears started gathering in his eyes. If Allura was back wouldn’t he have an inkling as well? He did have Altean marks after all. Lance slowly brought his hands up, until they were resting on his blue Altean marks just below the outer corners of his eyes. He felt himself become lighter, something he hadn’t felt since the war had finished. Maybe there was a chance for his own happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait another few days before I posted this chapter, but I was too excited to wait. So here it is. I toyed with the idea of adding Allura into this story, but I thought if I'm giving Keith and Shiro the happy ending I wanted them to have, then why couldn't I do the same for Lance? I hope the idea isn't too farfetched. 
> 
> Also like Hunk, I believe in someways, the quintessence in Voltron is similar (but not the same) to the force in the Star Wars series. There is also a reference to Star Wars in this chapter. 
> 
> I know this chapter came extremely fast, but please be patient as I get the rest of them up. :)


	4. Chapter Three: Quintessence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, for the last part of this chapter the tags have changed!! I'm going to leave *** (I've also put a page break, followed by ***) at the part where the more graphic stuff starts. But please if you aren't comfortable reading it, you don't have to. That being said, if after this you would like me to push up the rating, I would gladly do so. The last scene will be the only one of its kind in this story. This is just here as a trigger warning before you get into the actual story.

**Chapter Three: Quintessence**

* * *

The Paladins had now been on New Altea for three days now. The group had all broken off, and gone to do their own things. Shiro had to go aboard the Altas and updated the Earth authorities on the situation on New Altea (Shiro also “forgot” to mention anything about Voltron or Allura). Romelle and Coran had headed into Altea to see how everything was developing and if there had been any changes. Lance, was sitting in front of Allura’s statue. He had his head tilted back and was looking up sadly at his first love. Lance had wanted to move on from Allura, the best way to honour her sacrifice, was to live on, to move on, but never forget about Allura and the good times they had shared together. Lance would proudly leave his whole heart open, and wear it on his sleeve, but it seemed like his heart had other ideas.

“I tried, Allura,” Lance whispered in the air. “I really did. I wanted to move on from you, but I guess a part of me had other ideas.”

Hunk and Pidge on the other hand, were both working hard to see if they could build a tracker, one similar to the one Hunk had built, when they were tracking down, what was the blue lion.

“Can we really find Keith?” Hunk asked as he welded some wires together.

“Yeah,” Pidge said without taking her eyes off her computer screen. “We have to,”

“Okay so I’ve finished with all the hardware on this thing,” Hunk said as he closed the panel. “All we need is the coding to be loaded and this baby should be good to go.”

-

The Paladins finally met up sometime after lunch. Shiro couldn’t help but shrink under the harden glaze Krolia was sending him, it felt like she had been frowning at him the whole time they had been on New Altea. But after he had suddenly cut ties with Keith, he could understand.

“So Pidge and I had an idea,” Hunk started and broke the glare Krolia was sending Shiro’s way. “It’s pretty genius if I say so myself, while I understand you’ve sent people to look at the crash site,” Hunk paused and looked to Kolivan and Krolia. “Pidge and I took the design from the tracker I used for the Blue Lion and rigged it to, firstly track Keith’s quintessence, and secondly expand the range of it.”

Kolivan and Krolia looked doubtful.

“It’s gonna track Keith through his blade.” Pidge explained.

“We believe the blades are like the lions.” Hunk started to explain. “It’s actually kinda cool, like, so the blades are made out of luxite, which is a super rare metal, and we were hoping with the help of Kolivan, we would be able to know all the current locations of the Blade members, and literally cross off their locations on a map, that’s the plan anyway.” 

“I suppose we can disclose the location of our Blades, it’s not exactly secret anymore.” Kolivan said slowly and with a nod of his head.

“So why exactly do we have to go to the crash site if we can track Keith from here?” Lance asked.

“It will take some time for the tracker to give us results, then it would take even longer to cross reference the data from the tracker, to the locations of the Blades. We could find more evidence at the crash sight.” Pidge explained.

“Then it’s decided then,” Shiro spoke up. “Myself, Lance, Pidge and Hunk will go to Keith’s last known location. Coran, if you’re able would you be okay with helping map out the Blades locations?”

“Affirmative, number one,” Coran said with a mock salute.

“I would be more than happy to provide you with the location.” Krolia supplied and walked over to a screen and started it up. “But I must warn you, it’s not going to be pretty.”

-

Shiro had skilfully, and quite quickly flown the team out of New Altea’s atmosphere and into the neighbouring system, where Keith’s distress signal had come from.

“I’m picking up readings that the atmosphere is similar to Earth’s, reentry is going to be hot.” Pidge read aloud from the monitor in front of her.

“Copy that.” Shiro replied.

The small shuttle shock as it passed through exosphere. Shiro tried his best to keep an iron grip on the controls. Their rescue mission would be all for nothing if they crashed onto the plant’s surface. Despite having flown through space countless times, Hunk looked a little green around the gills. Lance almost laughed at the sight, upon reentry into Earth, you didn’t feel it on big ships like the Atlas, but on small shuttles, the cabin shook harder than a leaf in the breeze. Eventually, Shiro managed to even out the shuttle, and landsafely on the planet’s surface.

The planet felt like a haven. It seemed to be completely untouched by any civilisation. Thick and dense rainforest seemed to cover most of the planet, most of the wildlife, lived around the trees and planets. Lance could have sworn he saw a monkey looking thing hanging out in a hammock made from vines.

Shiro, who was walking through first and leading the group through the rainforest, pulled back some, low-hanging branches, and was able to see into a clearing. If the group were expecting a natural water hole, then they were going to be in for a shock. What laid in the clearing was far from what they could ever imagine.

“So I guess that’s Keith’s ship,” Hunk said as himself and the group took in the absolute wreak of Keith’s ship. The nose of the ship, was all burnt and twisted, it appeared to be missing it’s right wing and they could see the tell-tale sigh on smoke marks that would have come from the cock-pit. When Keith had crashed through the atmosphere, he had carved up the ground all behind him. Scratches from the trees cover the ship.

“I guess we should try and investigate?” Lance shrugged as he made uneasy steps towards the ship. The group said nothing and followed Lance to the ship.

Shiro ran his Altean hand across the side of the ship. “I wondered if he even survived,” Shiro muttered to himself, his voice bathed in sadness.

Unlucky for Shiro, Lance was passing by. “Alright!” Lance suddenly snapped. “I know that you aren’t his friends anymore, but do you _dare_ give up on him. Not once when you were in the Black Lion did he give up on you. He’s always been there for you, and what do you do? You cut him off.” By the end, Lance’s face was red, and his breath laboured. “Keith is a survivor, he will make it through this, we will find him, and this will all become just a terrifying nightmare. You might have given up on Keith, but I certainly haven’t!” With all the strength that Lance had he pushed Shiro away and stalked off to the other side of the ship.

“There might be some more evidence around on the other side of the ship.” Hunk stuttered out and ran off, with Pidge close on his heels.

Guilt ate Shiro alive. He didn’t mean to doubt Keith, Shiro, like everyone else, truly did believe Keith was somewhere in the universe, they just need to find where. As Shiro came closer to the ship, they were able to notice a set of footprints around the cock-pit of the ship. He could see that the emergency hatch of the ship had been forcefully pulled open, and not from the inside.

“Ah, guys,” Shiro called out. “You might want to have a look at this.”

The trio came barrelling around the front of the ship, almost crashing into Shiro in the process.

“Keith was taken.” Shiro blatantly pointed out.

“I’m sure the Blades would have figured out if—” Pidge stopped mid sentence and looked at the cock-pit. “How the quiznak did they miss that!”

“Then who was he taken by?” Hunk came up around the and asked. “I thought the universe was finally at peace.”

“Maybe it’s the Galra?” Lance wondered out loud. Shiro, Pidge and Hunk all whipped their head around to Lance and frowned. “No, hear me out, there are still Galra out there who are loyal to Zarkon. I’ve got a bunch of messages from Keith complaining about them all. Maybe they’ve taken Keith, after all, he did bring down the old Empire.”

“Makes sense.” Hunk nodded.

“If Keith has been taken, he’s in even more danger now, there is no telling what they’ve done or doing to do to him.” Lance spoke.

“Then we must report our findings to the Blades and hope they’ve managed to locate Keith’s blade.” Shiro finally spoke up to the group.

“Hunk and I can see if we can get a lead on who has taken Keith.” Pidge turned to look at Hunk. Hunk, in return was sending a confused look to Pidge. “Don’t worry I have a few more ideas on what we can do.”

_******* _

* * *

_******* _

Hours, days, weeks or months? Keith doesn’t know. A part of him knows he hit his head on the control panel of his ship when he crashed. Keith spends most of the time in the dark, completely unconscious, only awake for regular doses of pain.

He doesn’t know why he’s here, or who has him captive. But as time passes on, Keith’s hope of being rescued diminishes. Knowledge or death, or was it victory or death? Keith’s mind is so muddled he can’t even remember the phrase of the Blade.

One thing Keith knows, Kolivan is going to be pissed. After Keith had declined the role as Emperor, Kolivan was hell-bent on training him to be the next leader of the Blade of Marmora.

“Ah,” Keith turns his head to face the door. In the darkness he can make out a looming figure in the doorway. “So the little Black Paladin is finally awake.”

Keith could hear it before he felt it. Suddenly an electric current ran through Keith’s body, he arched if back off the ground, his mouth wide open, as a hoarse scream escapes.

“You should learn to hold your tongue, Galra scum.”

For a fleeting moment, Keith had gathered his wits. “Like I’ve told you, there is good Galra out there. Helping to bring peace to the universe.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Keith could see the person bend down and look down at him. “Oh how I would love to punish you for speaking out of line, for spreading lies, but the boss seems to want you to stay pretty.” Keith could feel cold metal caress his cheek. “But that only means your face, the rest of your body is free real estate.”

Keith’s Blade uniform had already been reduced down to rags. He could feel his flight-suit being glued to his back by the blood from the lashings.

“Maybe you need a reminder of what you are.”

White-hot pain exploded from Keith’s abdomen. He could feel the blunt knife carve jagged lines into his stomach. Blood dripped out ever so slowly. Keith’s head swarmed. Little black dots covered his vision. And Keith greeted the darkness as an old friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee. This was a chapter and a half. I'm sorry for both the long update (I've just started uni, so life is pretty chaotic atm) and the last scene. I did have second thoughts on publishing this chapter how it stands now. I've never really written anything this graphic before. I try to have my fics to be filled with fluff. I might go back and edit it so its not so graphic. Please, please let me know if you want the rating pushed up, but this will be the last scene of torture in this fic. 
> 
> With that being said, I'm loving your response on this fic! It really warms my heart and makes me want to put out more chapters, and work harder on this fic. For length, I have no idea how long its going to be. I kinda work on a 'timeline' of once I publish a chapter I plan the next few chapters. So far I've got about eight-seven and a half chapters planned out. 
> 
> I really hope you all have a wonderful week :)


	5. Chapter Four: Ship Logs

**_Chapter Four: Ship Logs_ **

* * *

Only a little while ago did the team arrive back onto New Altea. Lance and Shiro, both took off in the direction of the main communication room, where Coran had been working on tracking Keith and Keith’s blade. The pair were both sad to learn that Coran had only pinpointed about half of the Blades, and was no where close to locating Keith.

Hunk and Pidge on the other hand, both made a beeline to Pidge’s temporary lab set up in the Atlas. Though easy coding and hacking, Pidge had managed to extract the ship’s logs and place them all onto a chip.

“So how are we going to do this?” Hunk came around Pidge and looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

“Well, we’ve basically decided that Keith has been taken, and he isn’t just sitting on the space equivalent of Bora Bora sipping martinis,” Pidge told Hunk as she fired up her computer.

“Well, yeah makes sense.”

“Its going to be tedious, much like our other method of tracking him, but if we could figure out where he’s been, we could track his movements, and see if anyone else has been tracking his movements.” Pidge told Hunk as she loaded up the logs onto her laptop.

-

_Ship Log: One_

_September 2228_

_Keith was sitting back in a chair, his hair was thrown in a messy low pony tail. There was a wild look in his eyes, one that looked like he didn’t know what was going on._

_“I suppose this my diary now?” Keith frowned. “They don’t have paper anymore. I’m all for saving the trees, but there is really no privacy. I can’t just hid this under my bed like I did growing up in the foster homes. Oh well,” Keith had shrugged. “There is nothing I can do, put up firewalls and all of that, in saying that, I don’t know how to do that, maybe I can ask Pidge?” Keith tilted his head to the side and then nodded. “I suppose the biggest thing it Voltron. I feel like I should be crazy. I know Voltron left and we haven’t had any sign of them for years, but I could feel them! And not just the Black Lion, but all of the lions, I think it’s more like the feeling that I used to get from forming Voltron than the individual lions.”_

_There was a beep coming from off screen, and Keith turned his attention to it._

_“I should tell mum and Kolivan what I’m going.” Keith said as he flicked off the switch. “Hmmm, and maybe Shiro,”_

_The screen then went black._

-

“I feel like this is an invasion of privacy.” Hunk said as he took the seat next to Pidge.

“Well, if we want to find him, then we’ve got to watch them all.” Pidge pushed her glasses further up her nose.

“But it’s like is diary. There could be super important and personal stuff. Like I don’t want to know that.” Hunk complained.

“Just shut up and watch.” Pidge glared at Hunk. “What if this is our only chance to find him? Besides, can’t you just imagine all the dirt we could have on him?” Pidge grinned devilishly, while hitting play on the next log.

-

_Ship Log: Two_

_December 2228_

_Keith now looked tired, he was leaning his cheek on the palm of his hand. Even though Galra aged significantly slower than humans—and Keith was no exception. He looked almost twice the age he looked in his previous log._

_“I don’t know why I thought this was going to be easy. It feels as though I’m just drifting through the universe, and hitting dead ends every single time. I don’t actually know why I’m searching for Voltron. The universe doesn’t end it anymore—that’s probably why they left. God—” Keith suddenly paused, “—Am I turning to into Zarkon?” Keith whispers to himself. “He was just obsessed with getting Voltron, just like me. But I don’t really want to use them, just to see them again would be great, then I suppose that makes it different? Ahh, I don’t know.” Keith leaned back into his chair and allowed for his head to hit the back of the chair._

_He ran his hands through his hair, and his hands got caught at the end of his hair. “Man, I really need to brush this out.” Keith leaned forwards and turned off the camera._

_And the screen went black._

_-_

_Ship Log: Three_

_March 2229_

_There seemed to be both a wild look in Keith’s eyes, as well as hope. Pidge and Hunk’s eyes followed Keiths as he paced up and down._

_“I thought that this was just Voltron. I hoped it was just Voltron.” Keith muttered under his breath. “At first it felt like Honerva, or was it Voltron, or maybe the castle. It felt Altean, but it was more familiar.” Keith ran a hand down his face. “Then it clicked. It’s Allura. I don’t know how to explain it, but it felt like her. I know the last thing she would have wanted would be for me to spend the rest of my life trying to search for her, but if there is a slim chance I could find her, then I have to take it.” Keith then promptly collapses in his chair. “I could just imagine the look on Lance’s face.” Keith smiled sadly. “I know he tells everyone he has moved on, but deep down, I feel like he is lying, both to himself and everyone else. I’ve got to say I know his pain. But I don’t know what would be worse. Having the love of your life sacrifice herself for the greater good of the universe, or seeing the love of your life happy with someone else, and then having him cut you out of his life. When I say that aloud, I feel petty. I mean Allura’s not with Lance because she saved the universe. I’m just sad because Shiro didn’t choose me. Man, I should grow a pair and move on.”_

_The screen went black._

-

Shiro now found himself in his quarters on the Altas. For someone who was constantly travelling aboard the ship, there wasn’t many personally items in his quarters, just a few pictures on the wall, and Shiro thinks Curtis had left a jumper thrown over the couch? The idea of having Keith gone, had made Shiro rethinking the choices he had made in his life. The choices he made, that forced Keith away. Shiro fell forward on the table, his Altean arm falling beside him with a loud clunk. His eyes drifted to the pictures on his wall. They were all in nice white picture frames.

The first picture he saw was one that they had taken on the first Allura Day, they celebrated on New Altea. It was bittersweet. They day they had saved the whole entire universe, where they pulled off great feats, but at a great cost, Allura. They had spent the time immediately after the war, mourning for Allura, but on Allura day, they decided to celebrate her life instead. To turn the day into a joyous occasion.

The second picture had been taken on Pidge’s 21st birthday. Everyone had made an effort to come. Even Keith had managed to take time off to come and celebrate with everyone. Shiro smiled softly at the picture. Pidge, Lance and Hunk were all drunk, while Keith was a little bit tipsy and Shiro was still sober. Coran had made some Altean alcohol, where one sip had Lance throwing up in decorative vase in the Holt’s living room. At some point, Lance had challenged Keith to beer pong, surprisingly, Lance lost. And at some stage, the five of them managed to grab hold of both Shiro and his phone to snap a photo of the group.

There was a photo taken on Shiro’s wedding day, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Shiro, and even Coran was in the photo, but Keith was no where in the photo. It came to Shiro in a horrible realisation that there was only two pictures where Keith was in them. He had been his best friend, and he wasn’t up on his wall. More guilt snapped Shiro in the chest. Shiro felt even more guilt, as he didn’t know what he had lost, until he realised it was gone.

Shiro was more than happy to send his own time wallowing in self-pity, no one needed to see him likes this, and he didn’t deserve comfort from anyone, he was the one who had brought it upon himself, and it was only up to him to try and fix the situation.

A low whine alerted Shiro that he was no longer the only person in his quarters. Shiro looked and saw there was a familiar head of blue sitting on his lap. Kosmo had appeared in Shiro’s room and was comforting Shiro.

“Kosmo?” Shiro whispered. He carefully started to stroke the top of Kosmo’s head. Cosmo gave another whine. The more Shiro thought about it, Kosmo wasn’t here to comfort Shiro, but more that Kosmo was here seeking comfort.

“I know boy,” Shiro off his chair and onto his knees next to Kosmo. Shiro hid his face in Kosmo’s fur and softly started to cry.

-

Lance had managed to breakaway from the group and had adventured out of the temporary Blade base and into a field of juniberry flowers. Colleen had decided to create multiple juniberry meadows both on Earth and throughout the galaxy, it was a nice reminder of Allura and the sacrifice she had made. But the juniberry flowers on Altea seemed more majestic, more magical. Lance was starfished in the middle of the field. In his right hand, he rolled the stem of the juniberry flower in-between his thumb and index finger.

Ever since Keith had gone missing (and he was missing, Lance refused to even acknowledge the fact he could be dead), Allura had been at the forefront of Lance’s mind. The slim possibility that she could be other there, made hope blossom in Lance’s chest like nothing he had ever felt before. But with everything, he felt useless. Out of all the paladins, shouldn’t it be him sensing Allura? Allura had given him marks of an Altean, shouldn’t that mean something.

Any jealously he had previously felt over Keith disappeared. Keith didn’t deserve his jealously, if he did become jealous of Keith, then the trust and friendship they had built over the years would mean nothing.

“I just hope we find you. I don’t care who, just as long as your with me.” Lance whispered softly to the wind.

-

_Ship Log: Two-hundred and eighty-four_

_April 2231_

_“Still no luck,” Keith sighed as he collapsed into the chair. Kosmo appeared by his side and rested his head on Keith’s lap, and let out a low whine. “I know bud, we’ll stop somewhere soon.” Keith brought his hand down and gently started to rub Kosmo’s head. “I wonder what I’m sensing, its a strange feeling, it’s like an internal beacon of sorts, and it pulls me towards a place, but by the time I get there, the feeling is gone and I’m just drifting in space. Are rifts still common?”_

_Keith was cut off by a flashing light on his left side. Kosmo disappeared and Keith rolled the chair over. “Man, people fly past too close sometimes, it’s like the second on this past movement.” Keith flicked a switch and the light turned off. “I preferred it better when I was on a bigger ship, no one goes after them, even any of the lions would be cool, no one definitely doesn’t want to go after them.”_

_“But could it be rifts I’m sensing. Like when we fought Lotor. Maybe the lions found a way in and are trying to come back out with Allura as well? Gah, I don’t know, all of this stuff is making my head hurt. I feel like those old YouTube videos were people just rant about conspiracy theories.”_

_The screen went black again_

_-_

_Ship Log: Two-hundred and eighty-five_

_May 2231_

_“I wonder if someone is following me. I mean there are multiple times where a ship gets too close, and normally it doesn’t matter to me, because it happens, especially in well-known areas and popular places, but its getting strange now. I’ve scanned the ship for a track but I can’t seem to find one. But they always appear when I get close to ‘rift’. What do they want with me? Far as I know the only people that know about this mission are Kolivan and mum.”_

_-_

With that information, Hunk and Pidge were quick to start work. They decided to see what locations Keith had visited and run multiple checks on the other ships that had visited to see if they could find a pattern of who might have bee tracking Keith. It wasn’t long until they got a hit. It wasn’t a Galra like they thought, but a modpodge group of what seemed to be pirates.

“We’ve got to tell everyone and get a team ready to go after Keith.” Pidge yelled over her shoulder and ran towards the Blade’s ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here is another chapter! I will try to make weekly updates but with school and everything I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. 
> 
> I did mention that Lance was jealous of Keith a little bit, and I did make him get over it quickly, I felt like if I just allowed him to be jealous, it would underdo the little character development he got in the series. I do feel like there were multiple characters where their own development and personal growth could have been a lot more. Oh well.
> 
> Have a great week :)

**Author's Note:**

> So I feel like this might be my on of my favourite tropes. I'm weak for a pining Keith and/or Shiro. Shiro might be OOC, but I'll try my best not to make him too OOC. I've got a few chapter planned for this fic, it's just a matter of finding the time to write them. I know this has been written a few times, but this is my take on it. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually feel sorry for Curtis. He didn't ask for this and I'm about to tear his whole life up. Same with Keith and Shiro tbh. Side note, I completely made up the years. But with all the Earth tech in the show, I feel like it's set a least a couple of centuries into the future, I mean its been over like 60 years since we've put people on the moon, and in the show Shiro went on a mission to Kerberos.


End file.
